Matar Pao|Black Vatana Chaat

Alka Keswani — Wed, 12 Jan 2022 08:36:37 +0000

Matar Pao or the black vatana chaat is a classic street food dish from Ulhasnagar, my home town! It is made by cooking dried black peas (Kaala Matar/Vatana) with salt and water and the curry is generally flavoured with just pepper. A spicier version is made by adding garam masala powder by many vendors. The rustic flavours of the dish come from cooking vatana for longer duration, till soft and then by mashing some to make the gravy more thicker, homogenous and flavourful. Dried black peas take forever to cook and hence soaking these for 12 – 24 hours is a must. Also adding a little of baking soda is highly recommended or else the peas would take ridiculously long time to cook well. The Matar pao chaat is easy to assemble. Just top the pao with boiled vatana, chutneys, chaat masala (optional), pepper (optional), boiled potato cubes, chopped onions and sev/papdi/dalmoth. Check this recipe video : If you happen to visit Ulhasnagar, particularly, camp number 5, during Chaliha festival, you will spot many vendors around Puj Chaliha Sahib Mandir, selling this chaat on the carts. The chaat during those 40 days of festival is made without using any garlic or onions (in curry and in chutneys) and is usually topped with grated cabbage, boiled kachalu (Arbi) / potatoes. Pao is optional for the devotees. Also no Farsan is used for those who are observing Chaliha fast. Print Matar Pao|Black Vatana Chaat Dried black peas curry and Pao chaat Ingredients 1 cup dried Black peas Salt as per taste 1 tbsp black pepper powder ⅛th tsp cooking soda (Pakode waali soda) For Chaat 5 Pao 2 boiled potatoes 1 large onion Chaat masala (optional) to garnish Mint coriander chutney (5-6 tbsp or as much preferred) Sweet Tamarind chutney (3-4 tbsp or as much preferred) Farsan (Papdi/Dalmoth/Nylon sev) to garnish Coriander leaves to garnish Method Pick, wash and soak dried black peas in enough water for 12 to 24 hours. Change water once if soaking for more than 12 hours. Rinse well with water before cooking. In a pressure cooker add soaked peas, 3 cups of water, salt and cooking soda. Close the cooker with the lid. Cook on high heat till 1 whistle . Cook under pressure, on lowest heat for around 30 minutes. Turn off the flame. When the pressure subsides, open the lid of the cooker and check if the peas are cooked well. Pinch few peas in between your fingers and thumb and if easily mashed, the peas are ready to eat. Else, add some water, if needed and cook further. Using back of the ladle, mash some peas so as to thicken the gravy. The gravy should not be too watery. If the gravy is very loose, heat it further and if there is barely any gravy then add some hot water. Add black pepper powder. You can add some garam masala at this stage. For assembling the chaat, take a serving platter and place pao cut into bite sized pieces. Pour piping hot vatana/matar curry over it. Add boiled potatoes cut in cubes/pieces and chopped onions. Pour some mint coriander chutney, sweet tamarind chutney ( Cheat version:I took half a cup of tamarind water and added 3 tbsp of jaggery and microwaved it for 3 minutes. Added some salt, kala namak, chaat masala, chilli powder and hing to it). You can garnish with some chaat masala and pepper (I didn't use any). For the recipe of home made chaat masala, check this video of mine. Top the chaat with some farsan of your choice. Papdi, Nylon sev and dal moth are the popular choices. Garnish with coriander leaves and consume immediately. 3.5.3251

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Vataran Ji Lilotari|AlifBe~46

Alka Keswani — Wed, 08 Dec 2021 06:18:27 +0000

The 46th Alphabet of Sindhi AlifBe (Persio – Arabic script ) is و in Sindhi, व in Devanagari and V in Roman Sindhi. And the corresponding dish for AlifBe` 46 is Vatan~an (Vataran) Ji Lilotari ! I know many of you will wonder whether it actually is a dish from Sindhi cuisine (coz. it sounds like a Gujarati style subzi) but well, it is indeed a traditional Sindhi Brahma Khastriya style curry and many of us know it by the name ‘Peas Tamate mein’ ( peas in tomato gravy)! Sindhi Brahma Khastriya community is yet another subset of Sindhi community and like Nassarpuri or Thathai Bhatia Sindhis Brahma Kshatris (Kshatriya) too have some unique/peculiar food rituals and food ‘nomenclature’ . Sindhi Brahma Khastriyas: The ancient Indian society was divided into four Varnas; Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishya and Shudras. Each Varna was dedicated to specific social functions and though the classification was meant to create a society of specialised communities, it ended up being yet another way to exploit the weak and the naive. But to clarify the context of today’s post, I need to explain how two Varnas i.e Brahmins and Kshatriyas overlapped and how a subset of Sindhi community named Brahma Kshatriya or Brahma Khatris came into existence. While many believe that Lord Parashuram (Lord Ram’s avatar with an axe) was a Brahma Kshatriya since he was born in the family of Rishis but possessed traits of Kshatriyas, his disciple prince Jaisen, is considered to be the one bestowed with the title of a Brahma Kshatri by Rishi Dadhichi. History of Brahma Kshatriyas: (As learnt from Sindhi Brahma Kshatriya Panch) In the Treta Yug, a king named Arjuna ruled the kingdom of Mahishmati near Narmada river. He got a boon of possessing thousands arms and hence was later named as Raja Sahastrarjun or Raja Sahastrabaahu (One with Thousand arms). Once King Sahastrabahu went in a forest and visited ashram of Rishi (Sage) Jamdagini, father of Lord Parashuram. He spotted a cow, Kapila (Kamdhenu) in the ashram and insisted on taking away Kapila with him and though Rishi Jamdagini declined, the King forcibly took away Kapila. When Parashuram came to know about the audacity of the king, he went to the king to get Kapila back. He faced the wrath of King’s soldiers and a war like situation resulted in the death of King Sahastrabaahu. The sons of the king attacked Rishi Jamdagini’s ashram and as a result Rishi lost his life. Parashuram vowed to destroy Kshatriya community. A king named Raja Rattansen, in Sindh, came to know about the vow of Parashuram and when his army failed to control the wrath of Parashuram, the king, along with his wives, left the palace and took shelter in the ashram of Rishi Dadhichi. His children grew up learning Vedas and Shastras in the ashram. Parashuram found Raja Rattansen in the forest and killed him. When he visited the ashram and saw the children, he asked Rishi Dadhichi if the kids were Kshatriya or Brahmins. The rishi tried his best to cover up the kids. Skeptical yet curious, Parashuram took one of the child, named Jaisen, with him, assuring the Rishi that he will teach Jaisen the weaponry/archery etc. Years later an incidence revealed the truth of Jaisen ( that he is a Kshatriya prince) and lord Parashuram became so furious that he cursed Jaisen and as a result of the curse, Jaisen forgot all the knowledge imparted by Parashuram. But when Jaisen asked for forgiveness, Parashuram told him to return to Rishi’s ashram and that if Rishi agrees to accept Jaisen back, he will regain his knowledge. Feeling lost, he went back to Rishi Dadhichi who took him under his wings and that’s how a Kshatriya blessed with the combined knowledge of weaponry and Vedas came to be known as a Brahma Kshatriya. Sindhi Brahma Kshatriya Food: I first came across SBK food thanks to some posts shared by Prerna Sonejee in Sindhirasoi Facebook group. What intrigued me was how the dishes were named differently, as compared to the regular Sindhi way. Names like ‘Dhaaran Basar Ji dal’, ‘Surti Vaalan Jo sonto’, ‘Gaare Chokhan Ji Puri‘ sounded very different and that’s when I started connecting with people from this lesser known community to understand the nuances of the cuisine. I am learning something new everyday! Coming to Vatan~an Ji Lilotari, it is nothing but fresh/green peas (or chawli) cooked in tomato gravy along with one or two vegetables of your choice (Potatoes, Apple gourds, Lotus stem, Yam etc). The recipe was shared by Prerna Sonejee and I must say, it was one of the easiest dishes that I have made for the AlifBe series. Print Vataran Ji Lilotari|AlifBe~46 Fresh peas and Yam cooked in tomato gravy Ingredients 1 Cup shelled fresh peas 200 gm Suran (Elephant foot yam) 4 ripe tomatoes 1-2 green chillies ½ inch ginger chopped 2 tbsp oil/ghee ¼ tsp Hing (Use more if you wish) ½ tsp Turmeric 1 heaped tbsp Coriander powder (Optional) 1 -2 tbsp tamarind pulp Salt as per taste Fresh coriander leaves for garnish Method Blend or grate tomatoes. In a pressure cooker, heat oil/ghee Add hing, chopped green chillies and ginger. Saute for a minute and then add peeled and cubed suran. You can use potatoes/Apple gourds/ boiled lotus stem, bottle gourd etc. Add a little salt here. Gently stir yam (suran) and cook for 3-4 minutes on high heat. Add other vegetables, if using and then add peas and blended tomatoes. Add salt, turmeric and coriander powder and sir on high heat. Add around 1 and half cup of water and mix well. Close the pressure cooker with the lid and wait for 2 whistles on medium heat. Switch off the flame. Add Tamarind pulp and simmer for 2-3 minutes.Adjust the consistency of the gravy (refer the picture) and garnish with fresh coriander leaves. Enjoy with roti/rice or pulav. 3.5.3251 And here is a video tutorial about how to write in Arabic Sindhi:

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Matar Pao|Black Vatana Chaat

Vataran Ji Lilotari|AlifBe~46